LAGUNA HILLS : Scouts to Remove Old Play Equipment

While the old playground slides and jungle gyms may have been fun to play on in the past, 15-year-old Cameron Scott realizes that it is now time for the outdated pieces of equipment to go.

Scott, son of Laguna Hills Councilman R. Craig Scott, is organizing a group of at least 20 of his fellow Boy Scouts from Troop 776 to help city crews remove five pieces of rusted and unsafe playground apparatus from three older city parks on Saturday.

Not only will the community service project help Scott earn an Eagle Scout ranking, it will also help the city save money in its effort to make the parks safer for children.

Scott said he is optimistic that because of the volunteer effort, children won’t have to wait as long for new slides and other playground equipment.

“The money I’m saving the city . . . will go toward new play equipment that should be put in by next summer,” said Scott, who has been involved in Boy Scouts of America since he was 8 years old.

In a recent survey of the nine parks in the city--most of which were built 15 to 20 years ago when the area was controlled by the county--officials found that the Costeau, Stockport and Mackenzie parks are in need of the most repairs.

A slide at Mackenzie Park, for example, does not have appropriate safety rails, while a springboard piece at Stockport Park is outdated, according to the city survey.

Once the playground equipment is removed from the parks during the daylong project, city crews will put down a softer, bark-type surface over the hard ground at both Costeau and Mackenzie parks, Parks and Recreation Director David Lewis said. The resurfacing project should be complete by Aug. 25.

“The immediate concern is safety,” he said.

The entire playground removal and resurfacing project will cost about $35,000, several thousand dollars less than initially expected thanks to Scott’s volunteer project, Lewis said.

“It will help keep the costs down, and it’s neat to get the kids involved in something like this,” he said.

After the removal work is complete, about $30,000 will be left in a city fund for new playground equipment, although the cost to furnish just one park is estimated to be between $70,000 and $90,000, Lewis said.